the mice

We are disembarking Azamara Onward in Monaco on Saturday, November 5. Currently we are booked for 1 night in the Riviera Marriott Hotel la Porte de Monaco at Cap d'Ail, just over the Monaco border in France, which seems to be part of the issue here. This is about 1.5 miles (2.3 km) from the port so not really feasible to walk with luggage, even though we will try to travel fairly light. I have contacted the hotel about arranging for a taxi, and the informed me that they cannot arrange a taxi for Monaco, and the fare, for the short distance, would be about 70 euros - Ouch! We wanted to see the Oceanographic Museum and the Prince's Car Collection in Monaco. Our cruise will have an overnight in Nice on Nov. 2 and 3, so we are touring Nice on one day and an excursion out of Nice on the 2nd day. After Monaco we were planning to go back to Nice for Sunday, November 6 and take a train to Antibes for part of the day. In Nice we have booked the Holiday Inn Express which is 1 block from the tram line direct to the airport for our flight home on Monday, November 7. So I am looking for advice on my best options. 1. Is there a transport option to the Riviera Marriott that does not involve excessive walking? The hotel recommended bus No. 6 but that seems to be quite a walk from the pier. I cannot seem to find a bus or other transport for the short trip. 2. Should we just taxi to Nice upon disembarking (since we were going to pay for transport to Nice from Monaco on Sunday anyway) and then just take local transport back to Monaco to see the 2 museums of interest? If this, then can someone recommend a taxi service to book - not going to the Nice airport, but to a hotel. 3. Something else I have not considered? At the moment, I am thinking that option 2 is going to be the best one, but this is all a bit puzzling, so any help is greatly appreciated. BTW, the hotels are all booked using points, so I'm not looking to spend several hundred dollars for an expensive Monaco hotel (we are traveling for a month and are taking a number of expensive private tours) Thanks in advance for any advice.

A few limitations for that. I haven't used it so cannot personally comment on how it works but per T-Mobile, it lists this: Magenta MAX® plans. Unlimited full-flight Wi-Fi & streaming. Unlimited texting. On US-based airlines; Wi-Fi Calling functionality, valid e911 address, and one prior Wi-Fi call with current SIM card required for messaging. Where available on select US airlines. Maybe someone else can chime in with personal experience.

We have T-Mobile's senior Magenta Max 2 line plan which is $90 taxes included. We moved over from Sprint and we love the international coverage which we had from Sprint. but which is even better with T-M. No one has mentioned it but you also get Netflix standard (2 lines) included. Plus we have gotten offers for 1 year free of Paramount+, one year free of Apple TV+ and assorted other freebies from T-Mobile Tuesdays - things like free Shutterfly 8x11 albums, free magazine subscriptions, free coffees, etc. And you can get these bennies on both lines.

Thanks, Roger, for clarifying. (At this time of night it's too late for more coffee😁) . I'll report back on how this all goes but we won't be home until mid November. Thanks again! You're such a valuable resource.

So we can buy the 204 bus ticket at the Palma train station? (maybe it's the heat we are having that's getting to me.... or trying to deal with the trenitalia website 😒)

Thank you! Just confused because Roger was talking about the bus. We plan to buy the train/tram tickets in Palma, so we will have a tram ticket when we arrive in Soller.

Sorry - another quick question (I am beginning to feel like the ultimate dumb tourist here 😁) - "Tickets can be bought on the tram ." Which tickets are you referring to? (yesterday I turned 73 or maybe I just need more coffee today). Thanks.

Roger, Thanks for this. So am I to assume that the 204 bus is the only bus and the 211 is no more? Anyway, this schedule helps a lot. I will report back on our day after we return in November. Thank you again for all of your wonderful help and advice. (and I will still be following along here)

Roger, you are the best! And your helpfulness is so very appreciated. If you can find out the bus times that would be really useful, but no matter what, you have given me so much info that I am sure I can make a plan that works. Thank you!!!!!

OK, I see the bus station now (Estacio Intermodal) - next over from the train. But still confused as to the different buses - 211, 204. Thx.

I was hoping to spend about an hour in Soller - otherwise my DH is going to wonder why we are doing this at all. He's not quite the travel maven I am and definitely out of practice due to 2+ years of not traveling so just hopping on/off trains, trams, buses and /or taxis without a bit time spent looking around isn't the best idea (I know how to stay happily married for almost 37 years 😉) So, there is a bus 204 that runs more frequently than the 211? Is this a different company? Do you get it at the same place as the 211 in P de Soller? You said a taxi drops us in the center of Palma, so bus 204 does not? When I look at the bus route, it lists "Estacio Intermodal" as the last stop in Palma. When I put that in Google Maps, the Placa Mayor comes up. Is this where this one stops? Thanks for enduring all my questions. You are a great help.

Hmm, that sounds like a bit of a race for me. Assuming we could get off by 8:30 and get a taxi post haste, we would get to the port by 9: or so. then if we take the 10:50 train, that's just about 1.5 hours between the port and Soller itself. I don't think my DH would appreciate that. I guess I will go back and look at the schedules for bus, train adn tram and figure out a game plan.

Hello Roger B, We are on Azamara Onward arriving on Wednesday, October 26, in port from 8AM - 10PM so a nice long day for the train to Soller and still have time to spend a few hours in Palma before getting back onboard. At this point we will be halfway through a month's trip with no "off" days so I don't want to make this day a frantic race against the clock. The train looks like a way to relax and enjoy the views. The ship is doing their Destination Celebration this night so we want to enjoy that, too. I've now read through both of your DIY threads (great info!) and have a couple of questions based on the probable shuttle schedule, the train and bus schedules. I found a review of an Azamara cruise in Oct. 2019 and it looks like Azamara's shuttles started 1 hour after arrival time, running every 30 minutes. I don't know if that will be different now. Looking at the train website, it shows the first train at 10:10 but I noticed you mention 10:30. Does the schedule change in October? Looking at the bus schedule, if we did your suggested itinerary (train, an hour in Soller, tram to port, lunch, bus return to Palma), I see the buses are at 13:00 and then 15:15, so the latter seems the earliest we could take. Am I missing something here? Based on the websites you mentioned for sights to see in Palma, I've mapped out a route which I suppose we could cover in about 2-3 hours. We'd like to be back on board for dinner around 7 so we can attend the 8:30 on board event. Do you see any advantage time-wise to doing this in reverse - that is bus to Puerto de Soller, tram to Soller, train to Palma? If we did this, where do we get the 211 bus in Palma? And, can we buy tram and train tickets in the port or would we have to get each ticket separately? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

We've done plenty of independent land travel, have been to London for 5 - 6 day stays several times, Edinburgh for a week and Dublin for 4 days. But we also did an Oceania British Isles cruise in June 2019 and overall we really enjoyed it. We added a couple of days pre-cruise in Southampton. But if you have never been to London, I recommend adding a week there. If you end in Dublin, add several days there as well. We never took any of the ship's excursions. We had an active roll call where private excursions were arranged. Some were better (IMHO) than others. And I personally did a lot of planning for days where my husband and I did our own walking tours - we crammed in a lot and walked all over on those days. Even so, we didn't do all that I had hoped. One example, it poured buckets in Edinburgh and our ship could not dock in Leith (close in to the main part of the city), so the shuttle took about an hour to get into the city and the drop off point was several blocks from the closest museums. Luckily we had spent a week there on an independent trip some years earlier, had mostly good weather, and saw the city top to bottom plus 2 day trips out. I felt badly for those who only had this 1 port day in the city. A lot of it will come down to the type of traveler you are. Are satisfied with an overview? willing to only see a few highlights? like the convenience of unpacking once? prefer not dealing with the logistics of moving daily? not wondering about finding a restaurant for dinner? How much are you willing to invest in research and planning for your port days? These are all things you need to consider when you look at itineraries. Good luck deciding!

Good luck and Please report if he gets it back. I'm not sure if this is the same as what we used in August 2018 after my DH lost his prescription Maui Jim sunglasses which were in a distinctive case. But, sadly, they were never recovered. Hope you have a better outcome.

We made our final payment on a B2B prior to the testing requirement being dropped. Now my DH is extremely concerned, and we know we cannot just cancel (no CFAR insurance, since we only took our policy from our TA at final payment, a policy which still covers pre-existing conditions). So we intend to be masked up wherever we go. We've been fortunate that our vigilance has let us avoid Covid so far, but most of our friends who have begun socializing have contracted it, despite being double vaxed and double boosted, as we are. We have some land travel prior to our cruise and have booked, at some expense, a private tour pre-cruise. We have booked some ship excursions and I am hoping Azamara does not pack the buses. In a couple of ports we are paying $$$ for private tours, rather than sharing the costs with others (doing this instead of bidding for a cabin upgrade). We've been told that all the guides booked are vaccinated (whatever that means with Omicron) and will wear masks at our request. When we DIY, we will do our utmost to maintain social distancing. If we have to eat breakfast in our cabin, so be it. We'll figure out dinner as we go. Our main concern is to see the places on our itinerary. If that means foregoing some of the onboard camaraderie and events, well, that's just the "price" of travel in time of Covid. If testing is reinstituted, we are Ok with that, too We accept that this is not travel like it was in 2019, and we will do everything we possibly can to remain healthy and keep our fellow guests safe as well.

Good luck. My husband used that for reporting lost prescription Maui Jim sunglasses and it never resulted in any recovery.

Since you asked, I just read this in my emails this morning : https://thepointsguy.com/guide/hubbard-glacier-vs-glacier-bay/ We cruised with HAL in Glacier Bay on our very first cruise over 20 years ago - early season (May) so did not see any wildlife. Have learned a lot about cruising since then!

Thank you. Will require some planning. I suppose I will have some ideas from the previous cruise to know what is on offer.

Got upgrade offers for our B2B cruises. Not bidding - have too many other expenses on land portion of our trip and taking several private excursions, so the money better spent on those. Besides, we can fit in the "small" shower easily enough and don't want to get a tub/shower combo (besides, we have our nice 5'x3' shower with bench at home). Plus we have same cabin for both cruises and don't want to lose that. But here is info to add to spreadsheet, FWIW. Bid Date: July 22, 2022 (date email received) Cruise Date: Oct. 21, 2022 Cruise Length: 8 Loyalty Level: Discoverer Cabin type booked: V3 Verandah Cabin type bid minimum: Verandah Plus $100 pp CC $400 pp Bid Date: July 22, 2022 (date email received) Cruise Date: Oct. 29, 2022 Cruise Length: 7 Loyalty Level: Discoverer Cabin type booked: V3 Verandah Cabin type bid minimum: Verandah Plus $100 pp CC $400 pp The Oct. 29 French Intensive has lots of availability overall. Would not mind if it stays that way!

There are other videos on YouTube of the cabins. Just Google/search for "YouTube Azamara Onward" and you will find other videos. Some were done during the inaugural travel agent sailings. We'll be on Onward in October and I have been a bit disappointed to learn that the old wood cabinets, closets and desk from the original build were still in place, as well as the original sinks, whereas Oceania seems to have lightened up their R ship staterooms with new materials.

How full have the shuttle buses been? Have you been on any of the ships tours? If so, can you comment on how crowded the buses have been? Thanks.

We each got our 1 PUP for the June Caribbean quiz. So, since our first 2 PUPs were earned in June 2020, we have now earned exactly 100 points each, all without doing any of the booking activities.

Related to shopping onboard and looking ahead since we will probably have $750-800 USD in OBC on the 2nd leg of our B2B (spent what I could on shore ex but poor choices for half the ports). It is a 7 night port intensive cruise. Sailaway at 6pm, next day 6pm departure, then 10pm, 8pm, overnight departing next night at 10pm and 5pm (last night). My question, if departure is so late on 2 nights, are the shops open after that? Does not look like much opportunity to spend that OBC if I'm not careful about the time .

Sounds like our area of NY - we are glad we have a Subaru now instead of our smaller cars (Fiat 500, Honda Fit, etc.). But having just been in Quebec province, the roads were better than ours except for all the work in Montreal and Quebec City. Enjoy Edinburra - wonderful city, esp. If it doesn't rain. We had 6 glorious days almost completely rain free on a land trip but our one day cruise stop it was torrential. Wishing you a great cruise and fair weather. .